Following Raheem and Jason Terry, the group of five entered Madison Square Garden and were greeted by staff who had been waiting for the Eagles players.

"Haha, Sharif, I haven't seen you for many years, how are you doing lately?" A huge, dark and fat middle-aged man came up to him.

Why is he said to be a huge middle-aged man? Because his body shape is even more exaggerated than O'Neal, estimated to be two meters two! He is even more like a ball than O'Neal.

"Thanks to you, Alvin, we have been doing well recently and we are going to win the championship this year." Rahim warmly went up and hugged him.

Listening to Rahim's words, Liu Mang felt that the team leader's personality had changed too much in the past two years. He usually stayed together every day and had no intuitive or concrete feelings.

But now when talking to someone outside the team, Liu Mang felt the difference in Rahim.

"This is my coach when I played at Joseph Wheeler High School, Alvin Downey, who was selected as the head coach of the Western Team in the McDonald's High School All-Star Game this year." Rahim first introduced Liu Mang and the others to the giant in front of them.

Then he introduced Liu Mang and others to Coach Downey: "Alvin, this is Ace, Jason, Carlos, Tyshawn..."

"OH, Sharif, they are all big stars, you don't need to introduce me to know them!" Alvin Downey laughed.

They all shook hands with Alvin Downey. Liu Mang looked at Alvin Downey's exaggerated figure and thought, he is actually a coach!

With such a big coach, players on the opposing team don't dare to fight during a game!

After exchanging pleasantries, Alvin Downey led a group of five Eagles players to the locker room of the Western Team. On the way, Liu Mang learned that Rahim was invited to call this game a gathering of the best 18 high school students in the United States.

The opening guest of the high school all-star game.

Liu Mang feels that he still underestimates Americans' love for sports, especially their love for the best amateur athletes.

It may be peripheral products, jerseys, etc. These things for college teams are basically unsold except for students. However, the sales of their game tickets and paid game live broadcasts are very good.

The main reason is because... the competition will always be fierce, because although the level of high school and college is high, the overall level is the same, everyone's strength is about the same, the main thing is the team's tactics and discipline, etc. High school is relatively good, and a person who has

Talented high school students, such as Mayo, Kobe, James, and Kwame Brown, it would be great for a player like them to win the championship.

However, universities, mainly teams in the same league, will not be as disparate in strength as the two teams in professional games. Even the No. 1 pick in the NBA cannot change the championship with the ability of one person.

That's why college games are always full of suspense, and that's why they're so popular among fans, and why the ratings and ticket sales are so good.

In the more than 20 McDonald's High School All-Star Games from 1978 to the present, the 18 participating players will definitely become stars at major NCAA schools in the future, and may even directly enter the NBA. That is why they have attracted so much attention.

We invited Raheem, who was playing away games, as a guest.

I heard from Rahim that they happened to be here to play a game, and the coach of the Western Team was his high school coach, so he invited him to be a guest at this event.

Obviously, in this kind of event, Raheem is more popular and loved by the players than Liu Mang and Jason Terry. Liu Mang and others are just watching the fun.

When they arrived at the Western Team's locker room, everyone gathered around Raheem and asked for autographs. Some even asked reporters in the venue to take photos for them. This is not an era where smartphones costing tens of dollars can take photos.

.

Boozer and Barnes looked at these young players with great interest, knowing that maybe in two years, or even next season, some of these players would become their opponents.

"Jason, why do you think Sharif came to us?"

"Hey, you don't know him yet? It's rare for him to be so good in front of us. He will definitely bring us to show off."

"It's so shameless! You're taking advantage of your playing skills!"

"Ace, you are so right..."

Liu Mang and Jason Terry were discussing Raheem, a pretender, and brought them together purely to show that as players of the 1996 generation, they would be loved by young players as long as they performed well, because

These high school students grew up watching the 1996 generation play. Many of them officially joined the basketball career in their teens. At that time, players like Kobe and Raheem entered the NBA, like James, in junior high school and high school.

, all the posters of Kobe are posted in the room.

After talking bad about Raheem behind his back for a while, someone suddenly came to take a photo with Jason Terry. It turned out to be the high school students from the Eastern team who heard that the Eagles stars were coming and came over to join in the fun. What a coincidence.

, a star high school student from Franklin High School, Jason Terry’s alma mater, who graduated from high school and is about to enter the NCAA, came to take a photo with Jason Terry, and Jason Terry just poked Raheem’s spine together.

, and immediately, like Rahim, he left Liu Mang and the two bodyguards behind.

Liu Mang felt so desolate. Boozer and Barnes, one grew up in Europe and the other was a ruffian, no high school student regarded them as idols. Liu Mang, a foreigner, maybe children could regard him as their idol.

Idol, just like Nowitzki, but among these eighteen or nineteen-year-old high school students, it is definitely difficult for anyone to become his fan.

Just when Liu Mang wanted to "compose" an English version of a cool song for himself, a dark and muscular boy who was half a head taller than him...probably a boy, wearing a training uniform with Eastern Team written on it

Come to him.

"Hello, Mr. Liu, I am LeBron James."

"..."

Liu Mang stared at the face in front of him that called himself James, which looked nothing like a high school student. He looked at James who was still a high school student. The feeling of being looked at made James very uncomfortable.

Liu Mang remembered. Wasn't he just marveling at James' popularity?

But when James walked up to him, Liu Mang didn't see anyone coming out for a while.

Mainly because his hair was so thick, Liu Mang thought it was Oden...

If you think about it carefully, the now 15-year-old Oden may look like this.

Feeling that James was a little at a loss in front of him, Liu Mang found it very interesting. He looked at Xiao Zhan like that. After entering the NBA, the status of the two would be hard to say. Maybe Liu Mang can suppress James, or maybe this guy just can't.

, become evenly matched.

The humble and silent tone when James greeted him just now made Liu Mang feel very interesting. At the same time, he also wanted to tease this guy who was about to become the No. 1 pick and might be even more talented than Tracy McGrady.

He is indeed very confident! Unlike other people who look timid when they see a star and say hello, when James found Liu Mang, he didn’t feel like he was new to society. He was very mature and mature.

It matches the appearance very well.

But after looking at Liu Mang's teasing and appraising eyes for a long time, James felt uncomfortable all over.

James felt like he was being targeted by a hidden poisonous snake. Although Liu Mang had a gentle temperament and handsome appearance, James felt like he was being targeted by something evil!

He wanted to turn around and leave, but James wanted to maintain his "demeanor". His agent team told him that he could not be immature at any time.

Liu Mang saw that James could still keep his composure and did not get angry or express his doubts. He sighed to himself, this guy is indeed someone who wants to do big things!

By the way, let’s take a look at James’ ability value!

"System boss, can you check the ability value of this high school student?"

"Ding... LeBron James has an ability value of 78, 85 offense, 71 defense, 66 three-pointers, 59 mid-range shots, 90 layups, 94 speed, 83 strength... His natural skills are waiting to be activated."

Liu Mang's expression froze, what the hell is going on!

Liu Mang didn't expect that a high school student would have an ability rating similar to his own!

This guy is in high school, and his performance evaluation is similar to Liu Mang's evaluation in his second season in the NBA!

Don't be so exaggerated! After the summer league and officially enter the NBA regular season, wouldn't it be possible to directly enter the NBA and be a quasi-first-class star level of 80 or even higher?

Moreover, those with an ability value of less than 80 have talents and skills that will be activated!

Liu Mang looked at James who was trembling, this guy is really a monster!

A monster even more monster than Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady who graduated from high school!

But when Liu Mang thought about it, it seemed like that was true. James averaged 20 5 5 per game in his rookie year, and this figure was achieved only when Ricky Davis was at the peak of his career and the team gave him the ball.

From the data, looking at it this way, although James is not yet 19 years old when he enters the NBA, it is not particularly difficult to accept that he has the ability to be a quasi-first-class star.

"LeBron?" Liu Mang asked.

Finally a response!

James felt like crying with joy, and the feeling of being stared at by a hunter that he felt from Liu Mang was gone, making James feel like he had "won."

Holding back his excitement, James looked like he was hitting someone, tilted his head and said: "Yeh, I'm LeBron James, a graduate of St. Mary's High School, and I'm about to participate in the NBA draft."

"Wow, great." Liu Mang was surprised by James' strength and felt the pressure, so he responded a little perfunctorily.

Is this gone? James feels so frustrated today! He has been holding on for a long time without getting angry or showing frustration, but the other party suddenly seems to have no interest in him?

It's not that Liu Mang is no longer interested in James, he just feels the pressure to train harder and improve his strength faster, and his thoughts are focused on how to arrange his training.

Last summer I mainly worked on my basic skills, passing and shooting.

I've almost practiced passing the ball, and shooting is a long process, so it's time to focus on various skills.

Liu Mang's goal in the summer is to improve his personal skills in all aspects and save more skill upgrade cards this year!

While thinking about this, Liu Mang directly forgot about James in front of him.

After all, James is still an 18-year-old kid. Even in his senior year of high school, he has learned a lot of things that he should learn when entering society, but after all, he is just learning, not experiencing it himself.

James originally wanted to let Liu Mang ask him something, and he would answer and take the initiative, but he found that he was no match for the senior in front of him!

James succeeded and took the initiative to say, "Uncle Wes told me that if I could see you, I would get to know you and we would become good friends."

Uncle Wes?

Liu Mang remembered that James was also a "client" of William Wesley. As soon as James was elected as the No. 1 pick, William Wesley led Nike to give him what was originally the largest endorsement contract for an NBA player to date.

What a coincidence!

"Haha, LeBron, I'm so happy to see you." Liu Mang's expression immediately changed and he was very enthusiastic. Under James's astonished eyes, he reached out and hooked James' shoulder. Hey, this old high school student is really tall. Liu Mang

It's really uncomfortable to be close to someone who is half a head shorter.

However, James is indeed young and mature. Although he was in a dazed state and didn't know why Liu Mang suddenly became so enthusiastic, he still took the initiative to bend down a little and lowered himself to a height similar to Liu Mang's.
To be continued...